Luke 9:23-24 An Exegesis

             In Luke 9:23-24 the author writes, “Then he [Jesus] said to all, ‘If anyone wishes to come after me, he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will save it.’” (Lk 9:23-24 NAB) This passage is at the heart of Jesus’ teaching on discipleship and prefigures Christ’s passion while giving a sure way to reach eternal life. This short paper will explain the true meaning of this passage through a brief study of the historical and literary background, what the Church Fathers, Doctors and modern exegetes have understood from the passage, a study of the word “deny”, a comparison with other relevant passages from Sacred Scripture to the text, and how the text is used in the Church’s liturgy and teaching.     

            Scholars are unable to attribute an exact date for Luke’s gospel but most attribute its composition to sometime around 70-80 A.D. Scholars debate who the real author may be but there is a strong consensus that the author of Luke is also the author of Acts of the Apostles. [1] Unlike other biblical authors who wrote to specific audiences, it is most likely that the author of Luke intended his work to be for a general readership.[2] Amongst this general readership an important audience was any Gentile who did not feel comfortable entering Christianity because he saw it as a form of Judaism.[3]

The author heavily stresses the theological truth that Christ came to bring salvation to all peoples. More specifically this gospel demonstrates that Christ came to seek after and save those who were lost.[4] The author of Luke, throughout his gospel, calls all people, Jew and Gentile alike, to discipleship. He calls all people to follow Christ, and in doing so he calls them to follow God.  More specifically he demonstrates that Christ calls all people who want to be his disciples to model their lives after his.[5]

This message conflicted with the contemporary view of many early Christians that Christ came to save his chosen people, the Jews. Some members of the early Church saw Christianity as a form of Judaism. While St. Paul would later refute this claim when he made it clear that a Gentile did not need to be circumcised to be a member of the Church, many early Gentiles around the time of the composition of the Gospel of Luke would have struggled to join a church that resembled in many ways the Jewish religion. [6]

Understanding the author and his intentions in light of the historical circumstances shines great light upon these verses of the Gospel of Luke. Understanding that the author intended to call all, Jews and Gentiles alike, to discipleship after Christ’s own example leads one to see the exact purpose of the passage. This is emphasized in the authors use of the word “anyone” to symbolize that all are called, not just the Jews. The author also uses the demonstration of taking up one’s own cross, in essence following what Christ will do when He surrenders His will to the Father’s during His passion and death.

Taking a close look at the literary composition of this background one quickly sees this passage is a conditional passage. “If anyone wishes to come after me he must deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” (Lk 9:23 NAB) Using the word “if”, the author makes it clear that the Christ is not commanding anyone to do anything but is inviting his followers to a way of life, one that will bring them fulfillment. In making the passage conditional, Christ makes it clear that anyone who holds up his end of the deal by taking up his cross will be fulfilled.[7] 

            Moving beyond historical and literary analysis one realizes clearly that this brief, two - verse passage from the Gospel of Luke is loaded with meaning. The Church Fathers and Doctors, using the literal, allegorical, moral and analogical senses, saw much meaning in this passage. Modern exegesis, using the advances in the secular sciences, finds a different yet important meaning. Understanding both the patristic and medieval exegesis as well as the modern exegesis sheds a bright light on what Christ was teaching in this passage.

St. Bonaventure, himself a commentator from the medieval age with a good understanding of what the Church Father’s said about this passage, points out that Christ did not command but invited people to follow him. He explains that the cross represents penance and sees the importance of daily penance, because Christ challenges everyone to take up there crosses daily. Further, he explains the danger someone puts himself in when they trust themselves more than God. Often times they love themselves more than God and lose God and in doing so actually lose themselves. Most importantly, Bonaventure clearly states that to really live one’s life to the fullest one must allow Christ to save it and for Christ to save it the person must be willing to expose his life to worldly loss following after the example of Christ.[8]

Modern psychology opens this passage up to a whole new level of meaning. Modern exegetes using psychology realize that this passage is not calling the disciple to suppress his ego. Man is not called to suppress himself; he is not called to be a stoic. Rather, he is called to form his ego after the example of Christ.  This passage calls man to give over control of his destiny and to open “oneself to true self-knowledge by laying aside their image constructed from worldly illusions about the meaning of life.” [9] One is called to leave behind his old self and conform himself totally to Christ. This is important because the stakes are important. If one takes up their cross daily he will be rewarded with eternal life, but if he doesn’t he risks losing eternal life.[10]

            It seems obvious that the word “deny” is one of the most important words in the passage. The word, deny appears 52 times in the Revised Standard Bible.  It is used 46 times in the New Testament and only 6 times in the Old Testament. Luke, like the other two synoptic gospel writers, uses the word only 7 times.[11]It stems from the Greek word aparneomai which means to repudiate or to renounce someone or something.[12]

            St. Paul, in his second letter to Timothy, uses “denial” in a very similar manner: “If we endure, we shall also reign with him, if we deny him, he will also deny us, if we are faithless, he remains faithful for he cannot deny himself.” (2 Tim 2:12-13 NAB). These words from St. Paul explain one aspect of Christ’s teaching in the Gospel of Luke. St. Paul teaches that Christ always remains faithful to his people, but if they do not pick their cross by denying themselves then it is they who deny Christ.  Anyone who wants to be a disciple of Christ is called to be Christ-like; and since Christ picked up his cross so too his disciples are called to deny themselves and pick up their crosses.

            There are parallel passages in each of the other two synoptic gospels. The Gospel of Mark phrases the passage in a slightly different way. “And he called to him the multitude of his disciples and said to them, If any man would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me. For whoever would save his life will lose it; and whoever loses his life for my sake and the gospels will save it.” (Mk 8:34-35 NAB) The author of Mark’s gospel mentions that Christ directed this saying to those who were already following him. The author shows that it is not simply enough to follow behind Christ, but rather one must walk in His footsteps by totally surrendering himself in taking up his cross. The author of Matthew has the same saying but also in a slightly different way: “He who loves father or mother more than me is not worthy of me and he who loves son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me; and he who does not take his cross and follow me is not worthy of me. He who finds his life will lose it, and he who loses his life for my sake will find it.” (Mt:10:38-39 NAB) Matthew more than Luke and Mark stresses the importance of denying everything, even loved ones, to follow Christ.

            While there are multiple parallel passages in the New Testament there are no direct parallel passages in the Old Testament. This is to be expected because Christ is calling his disciples to a radical new form of discipleship. In the Old Testament God formed a covenant with his people in which the people upheld their end by obeying the law. Christ has come into this world to fulfill that old law. He has adopted all Christians as his brothers. Through his passion, death, and resurrection he saves his people. Following the example of Christ, his disciples, those who desire to follow him, must likewise take up their cross. It is no longer good enough to offer animal sacrifice; one must deny himself to truly follow Christ.

            This passage from Luke is often cited by the Catholic Church as the means to turning towards and following Christ. The Catechism of the Catholic Church recognizes the importance of this passage and its teaching on conversion. The Catechism of the Catholic Church cites this exact passage in its discussion on conversion and calls this passage the “surest way of penance.”[13]

            The passage from Luke is not used in the current Catholic Liturgy. The parallel passage from the Gospel of Matthew is used on the 13^th Sunday of Ordinary Time during year A. On the 13^th Sunday of Ordinary Time in year A Mt 10:38-39 is paired with 2 Kgs 4:8-11, 14-16a and Rom 6:3-4, 8-11. In the reading from the second book of Kings, Elisha comes to visit a woman. Upon visiting her he prophesizes that when he returns to visit her in a year she will be with child. This passage is clearly a pre-figuration of the Visitation. Read with the other readings it is easy to see that God desired to send His Son born to a holy woman to save the human race. This Son is destined to die for the sins of the world. Likewise if anyone dies to sin he is destined to live with Him forever. The reading of St. Paul’s Letter to the Romans is a reminder that all who were baptized into Christ were also baptized into his death. St. Paul exhorts the Romans, “as to His death, He died to sin once and for all; as to his life, he lives for God. Consequently you too must think of yourselves as [being] dead to sin and living for God in Christ Jesus.” (Rom 6:3-4, 8-11 NAB) This exhortation from St. Paul paired with the Gospel of Matthew reminds the hearer that Christ died for our sins that we may live with Him forever in heaven. Just as Christ died we too must also die to sin so that we can live with Him. There is no better way to die to sin that to surrender oneself over to hime who defeated sin, Christ.   

            These short two verses from the Gospel of Luke are packed full of meaning. In these verses Christ lays out a direct way to achieve salvation through discipleship. Through understanding the historical and literary background, what the Church Fathers, Doctors and modern exegetes have understood from the passage, the word “deny”, other relevant passages to the text, and how the text is used in the Church’s liturgy and teaching the full weight of this passage begins to shine through. Through this study one is able to more clearly discern what the path of discipleship really is.

1.     Raymond E. Brown, Introduction to the New Testament (New York: Anchor Bible, 1997),226.
2.     Daniel J. Harrington, The Gospel of Luke (Collegeville:The Liturgical Press, 1991),3.
3.     D.L. Bock, “Luke, Gospel of,” in Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, ed. Joel B Green, Scot McKnight et al. (Downers Grove, IL: Intervarsity Press, 1992), 497.
4.      Bock, “Luke, Gospel of,” in Dictionary of Jesus and the Gospels, 500.
5.      Joel B. Green, The Gospel of Luke (Grand Rapids: William B. Eerdmans Publishing Company, 1997), 23-24.
6.     Green, The Gospel of Luke, 23-24.
7.     William F. Arndt, Bible Commentary The Gospel According to Luke (Saint Louis: Concordia Publishing House, 1956), 259-260. 
8.     Bonaventure. Commentary on the Gospel of Luke, trans. Robert J. Karris, (New York: Franciscan Institute Publications, 2003), 836-840.
9.      Dianne Bergant, and Robert J Karris, (eds), The Collegeville Bible Commentary (Collegeville, MN: The Liturgical Press, 1989), 954.
10.     Dianne Bergant, The Collegeville Bible Commentary, 954.
11.     Catholic Bible Concordance RSV, Catholic Edition. Emmaus Road Publishing, 2009.
12.     Mark D. Given, “Deny,” The New Interpreter’s Dictionary of the Bible, ed. Katharine D. Sakenfeld et al. (Nashville, TN: Abingdon Press, 2007), 100-101.
13.     Catechism of the Catholic Church, 2^nd ed. (Washington DC: United States Catholic Conference, 2000,) 1435.